Last week, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) officially launched the Pag-abot program in Baras, Catanduanes and three (3) municipalities in Bicol Region.
The Baras local government unit, as well as its counterparts in Juban, Sorsogon, San Jose in Camarines Sur, and Bacacay in Albay, will be provided with a municipal grant allocation of P2 million to implement the community assistance funded by the program.
The Pag-abot program aims to assist children, individuals, and families living on the streets through the provision of social welfare protection services, various interventions, and opportunities.
Using the Community-Driven Development (CDD) process of Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), the community assistance will benefit the reintegrated beneficiaries of Pag-abot as well as the receiving barangay.
DSWD Field Office V Regional Director Norman S. Laurio highlighted that the Pag-abot program does not only provide for the eligible beneficiaries but also their communities.
“By using the CDD process of KALAHI-CIDSS, we ensure that communities play a central role in identifying their needs and driving their development together with the beneficiaries,” Director Laurio explained.
The local government units (LGUs) have already conducted their respective Municipal Orientations, which were attended by local officials, community volunteers, and key stakeholders.
The orientations served as a platform to present the program objectives, timelines, and implementation arrangements as well as formalize the partnership between the LGU and DSWD through the signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and Specific Implementation Arrangement (SIA).
The primary goal of the DSWD Oplan Pag-Abot is to extend support to vulnerable individuals, children, and families who find themselves in street situations, offering them options such as returning to their place of origin, relocating to areas near Metro Manila, temporary shelter in transitional facilities, or placement in long-term residential centers. For children without familial support, the program also seeks permanent placement through foster families or adoption.
This outreach initiative marks the beginning of a comprehensive intervention employing a multidisciplinary approach to case management, aimed at steering individuals and families away from street living.
In 2024, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order (EO) No. 52, institutionalizing and expanding the Pag-abot Program to take street dwellers and other poor and vulnerable individuals off the streets and help them to become productive members of society.
“The Pag-abot Program is hereby institutionalized as a platform for an enhanced and unified delivery of services to vulnerable and disadvantaged children, individuals, and families in street situations, through provision of social safety nets and protection against risks brought about by poverty,” President Marcos said in issuing the EO.
The Pag-abot Program consists of component assistance packages that not only involve transportation/relocation and financial assistance but also transitory shelter assistance, livelihood assistance, and employment assistance.
Also included are psychosocial support, capability building of communities and local government units (LGUs), as well as community assistance.
Institutionalizing the program will ensure effective delivery of services towards addressing poverty and social and economic inequality in the country.
In accordance with the AmBisyon Natin 2040 as embodied in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, the administration endeavors to implement policies and programs that are centered on coherent economic and social transformation and equitable distribution of regional development opportunities.
The Philippines has made a commitment to realizing United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 1 to eradicate poverty, by implementing nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, and granting equal access to economic resources particularly for the poor and vulnerable sector of society.